Newborn Screening: The Future Is Here
Ed McCabe, MD, PhD Senior Vice President and
Chief Medical Officer March of Dimes Foundation
Overview
• NBS and the March of Dimes • Advocacy for Improving NBS • NBS Deserves a “Culture of Safety” • DNA Sequencing in NBS • Summary
March of Dimes Mission • To improve the health of babies
by preventing birth defects, premature birth, and infant mortality
• NBS fits into the categories related to Birth Defects Infant Mortality
Newborn Screening (NBS) • 4 million babies are born
each year in the USA • Every one of those babies has access to
testing for a number of disorders • NBS protects babies from disorders
associated with disabilities and death by early identification and interventions
• NBS saves lives!
Newborn Screening (NBS) • Was originally based
on a heel stick blood sample taken before discharge from the nursery
• Now includes - Hearing testing for hearing loss - Pulse oximetry for critical congenital
heart disease
Newborn screening tests developed through March of Dimes research
• 1961: PKU • 1977: Congenital Adrenal Hyperplasia • 1979: Congenital hypothyroidism • 1984: Biotinidase Deficiency
ADVOCACY FOR IMPROVING NBS CONSISTENCY AND PARENT EDUCATION
NBS Advocacy • Proliferation of tests
led to a state-by-state patchwork
• MOD advocated for policies to promote more uniformity
• Developed annual NBS Report Cards
Newborn Screening For All Babies
2008 Report Card 2004 Report Card
March of Dimes Newborn Screening Report Cards Held States Responsible and Drove Change
*Green states are those offering: 9 or more tests in 2004 21 or more tests in 2008
SDACHDNC • Chartered in April 2013 “to advise the Secretary regarding… effectively
reducing morbidity and mortality in newborns and children having, or at risk for, heritable disorders”
Includes o “most appropriate application of universal newborn
screening tests, technologies, policies, guidelines and standards”
Functions previously undertaken by SACHDNC
RUSP • 31 Disorders 29 Blood spot-based 2 Functional tests
• Recommendations for uniformity • Brings a discipline to addition of
disorders to NBS
2012 MMWR 61;390-3
Newborn Screening Consumer Education
Newborn Screening Consumer Education
CLSI Education
Newborn Screening Saves Lives Reauthorization Act of 2013
• Introduced into the - House: H.R. 1281 – Passed May 2014 - Senate: S. 1417 – Passed January 2014
• Renews federal programs and state grants • Supports parent and provider education • Ensures laboratory quality and surveillance
activities • Reauthorizes the SACHDNC for 5 years • MOD nominated
NBS: MOD Approach • Select a Bold Problem Reduce death and
disability from birth defects
• Plan Strategically Develop advocacy initiatives Hold states accountable
• Solve Effectively More robust and uniform NBS system
NBS DESERVES A “CULTURE OF SAFETY”
NBS Is a Complex System • Many targeted disorders are rare • Large number of individuals are involved in
the NBS system But most will not be involved in
identification of an affected individual Do not understand the NBS system and
their impact • Unusual events in a complex environment
provide the opportunity for errors at the many steps in the system
High Reliability Organization • HRO paradigm is a key feature of system
safety • HROs exist in “target rich” environments Inherently risky and unsafe Where consequences of errors
are enormous and prevent experimentation
Mort et al. 2013. Acad Med 88:1099-1104 Ruchlin et al. 2004. J Healthc Manag 49:47-58 Sutcliffe. 2011. Best Pract Res Clin Anaesthes 25:133-144
NBS: Adverse Events and System’s Failures • Many disorders targeted by NBS can strike
the affected neonate within days of birth Delays can result in death or disabilities
• Therefore, many states require NBS samples to be sent to the laboratory within 24 hours of collection
• MJS reported that delays occurred even when insurance or the state would have covered more timely delivery
Reasons for delays: • Hospitals collecting multiple specimens over days before
sending them to the laboratory • Process known as “batching”
• State NBS laboratories closed on weekends and holidays
• Lack transparency about transit times
• State programs vary widely
Newborn Screening: “Deadly Delays” Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
High Reliability Organizations
• Provide reliability through infrastructure that Prevents adverse events by anticipation
o Examples: to identify, map and mitigate risk in an anticipatory manner
Is resilient by containing these events o Examples: to recognize and contain errors before
they spread and cause failure
• Provide optimally reliable outcomes by continuous quality improvement (CQI)
NBS and Culture of Safety Continuous Quality Improvement
• Example from California reported in MJS California newborn screening program visited each
hospital and reviewed practices every 2 years Visit of one hospital identified NBS sample batching
as a problem Immediately corrected according to subsequent
data monitoring
• Shows value of having CQI practices in place to identify errors, providing for prevention and resilience, characteristics of an HRO and a culture of safety
• Publications on “Culture of Safety” in NBS • NBS Quality Improvement Work Group
• NBS Quality Awards to State Health Officials: Establish policies of full transparency and 95% transit
times of 72, 48 or 24 hours
Robert Guthrie NBS Award for full transparency and 95% transit goal of 24 hours
Newborn Screening Quality Improvement
• If your State Health Official has established a policy of full transparency and 95% transit by 72, 48 or 24 hours:
Nominate for a NBS Quality Award Will be vetted by ASTHO
Additional Awards will be announced in December 2014
• Encourage your hospitals to set their own goals to
prevent “Deadly Delays’ for their babies
Improving Newborn Screening in Your State
Will Humble, MPH Director, Arizona Department of
Health Services
Inaugural Newborn Screening Quality Award – 72 Hours
Estimate of Missed Children • We estimated the number of
children missed by NBS Using data from Holtzman et al.
(Pediatrics 1986) A minimum of 80-120 babies
missed per year oResulting in unnecessary morbidity
and mortality
NBS Culture of Safety • NBS is a complex system prone to
errors
• Errors represent Missed babies Avoidable morbidity and mortality Human factors problems
• We have known these issues since at least 1986
DNA SEQUENCING IN NBS
Incorporating DNA Sequencing into NBS
• The Human Genome Project is leading to cheaper DNA sequencing
• DNA is present in the NBS dried blood spots (DBS)
McCabe et al. 1986
• NIH has funded four grants to determine if DNA in the DBS can be sequenced and the implications of this
NICHD and NHGRI Grants • Each of these sites will consider three
areas of interest - Genomic sequencing from the NBS dried blood
spots (DBS) and analysis of the sequence data - Investigation of impact of these data on patient
care - Ethical, legal and social implications of the use
of genomic sequence information in newborns
Examples from Funded Projects • Identify and overcome technical challenges
in sequencing DNA from DBS • Determine optimal approaches for returning
results to physicians and families • Evaluate whether sequencing information
complements NBS results and improves care • Reduce sequencing results turnaround to
50 hours and determine impact on diagnosis and care in the NICU
Adverse Drug Events
• ADEs have a significant impact Overall incidence in US hospitals estimated at
6.7% or >2MM/yr Fatal ADEs estimated at 0.3% or >100,000 excess deaths/yr Nussbaum et al. Genetics in Medicine, 6th & 7th editions, 2001 & 2007
• Nearly 2% of US hospital admissions experience a preventable ADE Results in an increased cost of $4,700/admission or ~$2B IOM, To Err Is Human: Building a Safer Health System, 2000
• Therefore, there are sizable numbers in morbidity, mortality and healthcare costs attributable to ADEs
Pharmacogenomics • Uses genome-wide
assessment technologies To personalize therapeutic selection
and dosage to improve drug • Safety
• Efficacy To reduce preventable adverse drug events
(ADEs)
• Should NBS DNA sequencing include known ADE allele associations? Would go beyond disease conditions
NBS & DNA Sequencing: Ethical, Legal and Social Implications
• Which sequence variants should be reported in the context of NBS? - All identified? - All with known associations for
• Diseases? • Other sequence variants, e.g.ADEs?
- Only those for which knowledge and intervention can impact morbidity and mortality in childhood?
- Only those on the current NBS recommended uniform screening panel (RUSP)?
Should NBS Samples Be Analyzed in the Third Trimester?
• Even if samples can be analyzed routinely by 5 days of age Some babies will become critically
ill before that time
• Is there a way to prevent the inevitable “Deadly Delays” in NBS?
Should NBS Samples Be Analyzed in the Third Trimester? • If high quality fetal DNA can be
obtained for sequencing in the mother’s third trimester blood
• If NICHD studies show DNA sequencing efficacious
• Then should fetal DNA be sequenced to determine appropriate services?
Summary • NBS is 51 years old Incredibly powerful Need to work as a community to oImprove the culture of safety oReduce missed babies
• Adding new technologies will not prevent systems failures
Summary
• We must be relentless advocates for NBS Federal: NBS Reauthorization Act State: Attacks on “privacy” grounds